Wednesday News: GOP’s “Execrable” Health “Care” Bill Flunks Jimmy Kimmel Test; Trump’s “Blunt, Fearful Rant”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, September 20.

• In defiant U.N. debut, Trump defends ‘America first’ foreign policy, threatens to ‘destroy’ North Korea (Trump is America’s disgrace to the world.)
• Mexico City residents scour rubble for victims as toll from earthquake tops 215
• Hurricane Maria’s core closes in on Puerto Rico, setting the stage for a disaster (“Catastrophic damage is expected from destructive winds, a dangerous rise in ocean waters, and severe flooding.”)
• Trump using campaign, RNC funds to pay Russia probe legal bills: Reuters, citing sources (Impeach.)
• New health-care plan stumbles under opposition from governors
• Another execrable health-care bill proves bad ideas never die (Speaking of execrable, how about Sen. Lindsey Graham? Ugh.)
• Republican Donors Are Helping Cover Trump’s Legal Bills
• A blunt, fearful rant: Trump’s UN speech left presidential norms in the dust (“His maiden address was unlike any delivered by a US president, and when it was over a sense of incoherence and menace hung in the air”)
• Exclusive: Here are the Energy Companies Represented by Trump’s Nominee to Head FERC
• Exclusive: Mueller team’s focus on Manafort spans 11 years
• President* Trump Is Doing North Korea’s Propaganda Work for Them (“His speech before the U.N. was long, dumb, and insulting.”)
• This New Healthcare Bill Wreck Lives in Exchange for, What, Exactly?
• The UN was waiting for President Trump. Candidate Trump showed up instead. (“Trump’s big UN speech sounded like it could have come from the mouth of Steve Bannon.”)
• Jimmy Kimmel: new Obamacare repeal bill flunks the Jimmy Kimmel Test (“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face.” Cassidy is heinous.)
• No one listens to women when they speak around here (“Thank Trump, who has made sexism safe again.”)
• Right-wing and fringe media falsely claim legal Manafort wiretap vindicates Trump’s illegal-wiretap lie
• Senate GOP Embraces FUBAR Process For Last-Ditch Obamacare Repeal Effort
• Ryan, White House reject bipartisan health fix (“Opponents of an Obamacare stabilization bill are hoping to put pressure on Senate Republicans to repeal the law.” FU Lyin’ Ryan.)
• A conservative-leaning court just issued a surprise ruling on climate change and coal mining (“In a rebuke to Trump, the federal court said greenhouse gas emissions need to be considered in lease approvals.”)
• The two senators who will likely decide fate of ObamaCare repeal
• McCain, Collins, Murkowski: Where the Big Three Stand on Obamacare Repeal
• The Real Political Correctness (“It’s people who criticize racism who are silenced, not those who embrace it.”)
• America Wasn’t Built for Humans (“Tribalism was an urge our Founding Fathers assumed we could overcome. And so it has become our greatest vulnerability.”)
• O’Reilly reemerges on NBC, viciously attacks women who accused him of sexual harassment
• The Graham-Cassidy Health-Care Bill Is a Potential Disaster
• Senate Republicans Embrace Plan for $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut (“…a deficit-financed tax cut is at odds with longstanding Republican calls for fiscal discipline, including that tax cuts not add to the ballooning federal deficit.”)
• Where’s Griffith on Appalachian health?
• Tenn., Va. attorneys general seek information from opioid companies
• Virginia Democrat Slams Republican Opponent For Assisting Job-Killing Companies (Yep, that’s Gillespie.)
• Schapiro: One race, two takes on Trump (“At numerous points in the evening, Northam paired state and federal issues, each time arguing that policies pushed by Trump and the Republican Congress have an immediate impact on Virginia, most notably on its economy.” This is indisputably correct.)
• Va. gubernatorial contenders clash over monuments, the economy in first TV debate
• Northam and Gillespie debate taxes, monuments and Trump (As usual, slick Ed Gillespie spewed snake oil and avoided answering questions.)
• Some Virginia State Police troopers concealed their uniform name strips at Confederate rally, leading to questions (“Bill Farrar, a spokesman for the Virginia ACLU, said the concealed name strips are a bad practice because it creates concerns about accountability.”)
• Talking less, listening more: TED Talk inspires Va. Teacher of the Year (“Michelle Cottrell-Williams, who teaches at Wakefield High School in Arlington County, ‘learned how important empathy is.'”)
• Virginia prosecutor finds fatal police shooting of teen to be justified (“Rubin Urbina, the 15-year-old killed in Prince William County on Friday, was armed with a crowbar, authorities said.”)
• Todd Pillion column: Investors, entrepreneurs can transform Southwest Virginia
• Virginia Beach woman chartered plane to rescue 300 animals as Hurricane Maria bore down on Caribbean
• VCU students charged with felony for wearing masks at rally arraigned; trial set for Halloween (Let me get this straight: you can parade around with torches and semi-automatic weapons but if you wear a mask, you get put on trial?)
• Stafford County attorney on Confederate flag: ‘The Board’s hands are tied’
• Staying warm as summer spills into fall